Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Kit Malthouse today presided over a meeting of Ministers from across Government to provide an update on how they are assisting business, port, and airport operators to minimise potential disruption and ensure that families can travel on vacation, from working with the Port of Dover and French Government to working with Highways England on traffic management.
This comes as the UK prepares for another busy weekend of travel.
Ministers from the Departments of Transportation, Home Office, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office attended the meeting.
Senior representatives from the UK Border Force, the National Police Coordination Center, and the Kent Resilience Forum, which handled the local effects of the problems at Dover and Folkestone over the weekend, were also there.
Ministers also addressed recent initiatives, such as modifying laws governing airport slots, to assist airlines in making informed schedule decisions, prevent last-minute cancellations, and provide passengers more assurance.
The RMT train workers’ strike began on Wednesday, while the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham start on Thursday.
Ministers further reviewed the measures being taken to provide alternate transportation and keep the nation moving.
Among the measures include adding extra capacity to lines that are already busy and providing coaches for spectators and sports lovers.
Prior to the major summer vacation, the Home Office provided an update on recent advancements in the handling of passport applications.
Minister Foster has been holding biweekly meetings with key staff members of the Passport Office to advance efforts to speed up processing times.
The Passport Office is now handling around a million applications each month, with 97.7% of these being processed within 10 weeks thanks to the hundreds of additional employees that have been hired to help enhance capacity.
Kit Malthouse, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, stated:
Families should be able to travel easily for their vacations, and haulers shouldn’t experience unwarranted delays.
I presided over a GRIP meeting today with ministers from across government, top representatives from the UK Border Force, the National Police Coordination Center, and the Kent Resilience Forum.
This was done in advance of another hectic travel weekend.
In order to remove any grit from the system, we are in daily communication with the Port of Dover and the French Government.
This was done to confirm that efforts are being made to prevent the scenes of disruption we witnessed last weekend.
These GRIP sessions will be used by me to organise and motivate government resilience, implementation, and readiness for potential problems the nation may face.